Chapter 136: Shrimps, Small Fish, and Big Fish

Zhang Yu felt as though he had slipped into some wondrous, arcane state.

Sensing that his limbs refused to obey him, he retained only a hazy, lingering thread of consciousness in the depths of his mind.

Only Wang Yue possessed the capability to subdue him in the flash of a spark without inflicting the slightest harm or pain.

The sounds of battle echoed now as if separated by a thousand distant mountains, and now as if ringing directly in his ears. Borne upon someone's shoulder, he journeyed through this realm outside of the mundane world, swaying from side to side at breathtaking speed.

……

"General! Zhang Yu has escaped from the estate!"

"If he is allowed to get away, his reputation will indeed cause us no small amount of trouble." Gao Lan narrowed his eyes, weighing the heavy battle-axe in his hand.

Though he had spoken those words earlier, he was not a man entirely without scruples; Zhang Yu's life had to be spared, but he certainly could not be allowed to have an easy time of it. If even this modest objective could not be accomplished, would he not have exerted himself to no avail and labored in vain?

"You lot, continue to surround the Zhang estate! Let not a single person escape! The rest, follow me in pursuit!"

"Understood!"

"General, you must not!" cried the eldest young master of the Su family, stepping forward.

"Get lost!"

Gao Lan lashed his horse fiercely, charging into the crowd to scatter them, only to have his path blocked by three burly men who lunged toward him.

With a sweep of their thick, robust arms, carrying a force seemingly capable of splitting the heavens and shattering the earth, Gao Lan brought his axe down in a heavy, unhesitating arc.

"Clang!"

The blow landed with a strange, unnatural sound.

To everyone's astonishment, the axe embedded itself squarely into the body of one of the men as if hacking into a block of solid bronze, yet not a single drop of blood or flesh splashed forth!

"What manner of monstrosity is this?!—Agh!"

With another sweep, Gao Lan hoisted the axe upward, lifting the strange creature along with it. At that very moment, however, the other two closed in on him. Despite his peerless martial prowess, he found himself momentarily flustered, and shouted in haste:

"All units, flank and attack from the sides!"

Several dozen soldiers swarmed forward, outnumbering the three foes dozens to times over, their morale soaring and spirits high. Forming separate circles, they converged on each of the giant men, launching a flurry of violent strikes amid a cacophony of metallic clashing.

Though the defense of these men was terrifyingly high, their movements possessed none of the vitality or agility of living beings, leaving them entirely in a position of passive defense. Before long, their bodies were beaten into tattered wrecks, and they utterly ceased to show any sign of life.

"Demonic entities... Such a person cannot be allowed to live!"

Twenty-seven horsemen spurred their mounts, following Gao Lan in a charge that left the main body of troops far behind. Pursuing the three figures toward the edge of the path, they arrived in the blink of an eye beneath the walls of Lunu City.

At that precise moment, the city gates swung wide open.

"Shut the gates!" shouted a minor soldier near Gao Lan.

"By order of General Gao Lan, close the city gates!" the rider bellowed once more into the distance.

Yet the gates remained utterly motionless.

Though Li Dali and his men had been stripped of their posts, the remaining city gate guards were still sons of Lunu.

Ask them to lower the drawbridge and let others pursue the Jade Lad? Stop joking. It was already a mercy that they were not fighting for the Jade Lad; even if Yuan Shao, the lord of Jizhou himself, were standing here, they would likely turn a deaf ear to his commands.

……

"This city means to rebel!" Gao Lan raged. "My incompetent younger brother, watch how I, Gao Lan, rid you of these scoundrels!"

Yet within the manor of that very "incompetent younger brother," a scene of utter horror was unfolding.

A severed head sat displayed inside Lu Banruo's bedchamber. His expression was frozen in terror, eyes wide and dumbfounded, the incredulity still lingering upon his face even in death.

It was none other than Gao Ping.

"Little sister, I still don't understand why we had to kill him."

"Because once Gao Lan arrives, he will only be an eyesore."

"But he is Gao Lan's younger brother! If we do something like this—"

"We? Heh, how could this possibly be us?"

Lu Banruo let out a delicate, tinkling laugh, and gradually, Lu Biao began to chuckle as well.

"Elder brother, go. Find one of our clansmen, disguise him, and make sure this head is linked inextricably to the Zhang family."

"Hehe, as you command!"

……

Outside the city,

The pursuit continued unabated.

Zhang Yu vaguely sensed that the number of people beside him had dwindled by one; it might have been Shi Ah, or perhaps Han Long, but the one carrying him upon his shoulder and fleeing for his life was undoubtedly Master Wang.

As for why he was so certain, it was because the sensation felt intimately, hauntingly familiar.

It was as though he had been carried away in this exact manner once before...

The early autumn air had not yet sapped the vitality of all things; instead, creation often staged its final, resplendent flourish.

Zhongshan had seen few wars, and Lunu had enjoyed an even more peaceful and stable development. Across a vast region centered entirely upon the city itself, a scene of absolute serenity and harmony prevailed.

Yet at this moment, though Lunu was untouched by the fires of war, it was gripped by a chaos far more profound, and no one had the leisure to admire the scenery.

With the sole exception of a certain group of travelers.

"Judging by this harvest scenery alone, even Yecheng cannot match this place for peace and tranquility." Yuan Shao rode at a leisurely pace, in high spirits.

"My lord, look yonder, those vast expanses of—" Yan Liang pointed toward the distant wheat fields, but stopped mid-sentence, abruptly snapping his mouth shut.

Beside him, Wen Chou also frowned as he gazed into the distance.

An elderly man with weathered features and a countenance like iron, clad in tight dark garments, came hurtling from the direction of the city like a soaring falcon.

And just like a falcon seizing a rabbit, he carried a man draped in white upon his shoulder.

"The Jade Lad!" Yuan Shao cried out in alarm. Yan Liang had already spurred his horse forward to intercept them at the sound of the name, while Wen Chou drew his longsword and stationed himself defensively beside Yuan Shao.

Yan Liang possessed formidable strength and a robust physique, surpassing even Gao Lan by a margin, and his agility was far greater. Twirling his longsword, he launched a vicious strike aimed at Wang Yue's lower defenses.

"Clang!"

Wang Yue had no time for explanations. He immediately met the blow with a counter-swing to parry it, then executed a coiling serpentine technique that wound around Yan Liang's blade, nearly disarming him on the spot.

"Your martial arts are decent, yet you are reckless and careless. If you remain so contemptuous of your foes, you will surely suffer greatly for it in the days to come."

Wang Yue said indifferently. The two men separated once more, falling back into a standoff.

"Regardless of who you are, put the Jade Lad down first," Yuan Shao commanded sternly.

"Who are you?"

"I am Yuan Shao!"

"Are you a friend of the Jade Lad?" Wang Yue's eyes lit up.

"A friend? Indeed I am!" Yuan Shao smiled, his expression instantly hardening. "If you dare to harm a single hair on his head today, I shall—"

"I am Wang Yue, greetings to Lord Benchu!" Wang Yue bowed directly to Yuan Shao with cupped hands. "Lord Benchu has arrived at the most opportune moment!"

"You are not holding the Jade Lad hostage?"

"First... put me down."

Zhang Yu's limbs dangled limply, twitching like a turtle just dropped into the water. Where was there any trace of the renowned "fair young gentleman"?

Yet this comical spectacle brought a smile to Yuan Shao's face. "Pray set the Jade Lad down, and tell us what on earth has transpired."

Before Wang Yue could move, a loud shout rang out from nearby: "My lord, look! It's the Han lad!"

Yan Liang pointed into the distance, where a youth covered in blood and looking thoroughly battered was hurrying toward them. Who else could it be but Han Long?

"The whole army, form up!" Sensing something amiss, Yuan Shao glanced at Wang Yue and the other man, and took the initiative to marshal his troops.

The hundred-odd men behind him were all Yuan Shao's personal guards—the elite of the elite among the Yuan forces, with quite a few veterans from the Vanguard Camp among them. To say their orders were strictly obeyed was no exaggeration; almost instantly, they formed a stern and ready battle array.

Wen Chou remained on guard against Wang Yue. A warrior's intuition told him that the elderly swordsman before him possessed a power capable of unsettling even his own heart.

As for Yan Liang, being a man of passionate nature with simple wits and direct emotions, he had already spurred his horse ahead of the rest. Having previously shared wine and martial arts bouts with Han Long, he regarded the youth almost like a younger brother and held him in exceptionally high regard. Seeing him in such a wretched state, Yan Liang could no longer suppress his surging anger.

"Brother Yan!" Han Long cried out joyfully upon seeing him. "Where is the young master?"

"In the rear! Who pursued you?"

"Gao Lan!"

"Gao Lan?!"

Yan Liang's fierce eyes swept the distance to see several dozen horsemen galloping in pursuit, the leading general wielding a battle-axe being none other than his own colleague.

"Gao Lan! What is the meaning of this?!"

Reining in his steed and resting his blade across his saddle, Yan Liang let out a thunderous roar that startled the oncoming party into a flurry of rearing horses and disordered ranks.

"General Yan," Gao Lan's expression shifted, "these are scoundrels from the Zhang family—"

"Bah, get down here this instant and follow me to see my lord!"